Floyd Newsum’s monumental four-panel painting Contemplating Success is installed across four floors of the Commerce Building at the University of Houston-Downtown. Commissioned in 2004 by Public Art UHS, the work embodies the ideals of higher education with the four ascending paintings referencing the four years of university life. The ladder is prominent in these panels as it exemplifies the idea of growth in education and symbolizes curiosity and ascension. Additionally, the image honors Newsum’s father as one of the first African American firefighters in the South. The artist also includes images of pencils, lightbulbs, equations, and other refences to the scholastic offerings of his campus. The work encapsulates the importance the artist placed on education and teaching, which were consistently at the core of his practice.

Determined to be an artist since the third grade, Newsum grew up in Memphis and received a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University. He moved to Houston in 1976 and began work as a professor of art at UHD, where he continued teaching for nearly 48 years.

The artist has been included in over 100 exhibitions and, in 2023, had a retrospective show titled Floyd Newsum: Evolution of Sight at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in Madison, Wisconsin. His works are represented in prestigious collections such as the Smithsonian National Museum of African History and Culture, Washington DC; the Studio Museum of Harlem, New York; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among many others.